1. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes when you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. that's where the phrase, "goodnight, sleep tight" came from.

2. The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." uses every letter in the alphabet. (developed by Western Union to test telex/twx communications)

3. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

4. When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.

5. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

6. The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."

7. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

8. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

9. The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.

10. The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

11. Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.

12. No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Super Bowl.

13. The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver."

14. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

15. In Cleveland, Ohio, it's illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.

16. It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.

17. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.

18. There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald's Big Mac bun.

19. The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1.

20. The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.